Directory:Iowa

Iowa is a state of the north-central United States. It was admitted as the 29th state in 1846. Part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Iowa was organized as a separate territory in 1838. The Mound Builders lived in the area in prehistoric times. Des Moines is the capital and the largest city. Population: 2,960,000.

Trivia

• Ripley's Believe It or Not has dubbed Burlington's Snake Alley the most crooked street in the world.

• Strawberry Point is the home of the world's largest strawberry.

• The state's smallest city park is situated in the middle of the road in Hiteman.

• Scranton is home to Iowa's oldest water tower still in service.

• Dubuque is the state's oldest city.

• Crystal Lake is home to a statue of the world's largest bullhead fish.

• Rathbun Dam and Reservoir is the largest body of water in the state.

• Spirit Lake is the largest glacier-made lake in the state.

• West Okoboji is the deepest natural lake in the state. Its depth is 136 feet.

• Imes Bridge is the oldest of Madison County's six bridges.

• Iowa's longest and highest bridge crosses Lake Red Rock.

• Elk Horn in the largest Danish settlement in the United States.

• At 16 miles, East Okoboji is the longest natural lake in the state.

• Kalona is the largest Amish community west of the Mississippi River.

• The state's lowest elevation point (at 480 feet) is in Lee County.

• The Holliwell Bridge is the longest bridge in Madison County.

• Francis Drake was 66 years old at his inauguration and Iowa's oldest governor.

• Iowa's oldest continually running theater is in Story City.

• The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art houses the largest collection of Grant Wood artwork.

• Fenlon Place Elevator in Dubuque is the world's steepest and shortest railway.

• Wright County has the highest percentage of grade-A topsoil in the nation.

• Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, is the largest cereal company in the world.

• The Saint Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville is the only basilica in the United States situated outside a major metropolitan area.

• Clarion is the only county seat in the exact center of the county.

• Dubuque is home to the only county courthouse with a gold dome.

• Cornell College is the only school in the nation to have its entire campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City honors the only man to die during the Lewis and Clark expedition.

• Maynard Reece is the only artist to win the Federal Duck Stamp competition five times.

• A bronze life-sized sculpture of a Norwegian immigrant family (circa 1860) is located on a six acre restored prairie site located at the east entry to Lake Mills on Highway 105.

• Iowa's only operating antique carousel is located in the city of Story City.

• Knoxville's National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum is the only museum in the country dedicated to preserving the history of sprint car racing.

• Iowa's only fire tower is situated in Yellow River State Forest.

• Sabula is Iowa's only town on an island.

• Herbert Hoover, a West Branch native, was the 31st president of the United States and the first one born west of the Mississippi.

• Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace is located in Boone and includes a restored frame house, complete with summer kitchen and original furniture from the family.

• Van Meter is the hometown of baseball's Bob Feller, an Iowa farm boy who went on to greatness with the Cleveland Indians during the Golden Age of baseball.

• Born Donnabelle Mullenger in Denison, Oscar Award-winning actress, Donna Reed, started her career at the young age of 16.

• Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, John Wayne was the son of a pharmacist and grew up to become one of Hollywood's most popular movie stars.

• Meredith Willson, who played with the famous John Philip Sousa and the New York Philharmonic before launching his career as a famous composer and lyricist, is a Mason City native.

• Glenn Miller, noted trombonist and orchestra leader, was born in Clarinda located in Southwest Iowa.

• The town of Fort Atkinson was the site of the only fort ever built by the U.S. government to protect one Indian tribe from another.

• Campers and motor homes are manufactured in Winnebago County. They're called Winnebago's.

• Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are 100% formed by water.
• Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

• The highest double track railroad bridge in the world, the Kate Shelley Bridge, is located at Boone.

• Iowa is the only state name that starts with two vowels.

• The famous actor John Wayne was born in Winterset on May 26, 1907.

• Iowa State University is the oldest land grant college in the U.S.A.

• Decorah hosts Nordic Fest a three-day celebration of Decorah's Scandinavian heritage.

• The National Balloon Museum in Indianola chronicles more than 200 years of ballooning history.

• Sheldon High School Summer Theatre, the only high school repertory in Iowa and one of just a few in the nation presents a different play for each week in June and July.

External links

• Iowa.gov - Official website.